Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1887-04-25
How to preserve Our vorsess.

How 10 preserve Our F0reets.
Much hiss been said on the forestry
question or how 70 keep mp tho supply
OF forsss treet. Afbor days have been
pvovidst for In snumbsr OF States, and
men, women and children have been
encouraged to plant trees In yards,
along public roads and upon tracts Of
land Sc. apart for that purpose. These
ar Dor days have In many places been
observed with considerable interest and
trees have been planted by thousands.
Indeed, arbor day In some sections has
become IN occasion celebrated ~ .
holiday by public schools, and from the
interest manifested there seemed to be
| no good reason TO doubt that the GUS.
tom would brtng about restoration OF
trees to large sections OF country from
which they had almost entirely disAp.
peared before the wood mans axe.
Bat there 10 another side to this
question; where 10 there question that
has not two sides? Thomas Meehsn,
the veteran botsnist OF Germantown,
Pa, and publisher OF The Farm and
Gsrdeu, has been giving bis opinions
upon snch IN important matter, and
though he In heartily In favor OF the
proposed plan for restoring our wanton.
~ wasted woodlands, he shows that II
will have TO be done In . moro me-
thedicai and systematic manner. Few
farmers in Pennsy ivAnia, he alleges,
fNhv8 Useu fnducsd-to msks spscisfrSts
forts In the direction Of increasing the
woodland. They have. he says. been
offered reduction In their road taxes
In case they would plant trees by the
road side, but II has not been prod uctive
OF good results because they do not be.
lieve 1t will pay, and farmers are not,
- . general rule, anxious to engage In
Any enterprise that will not pay In .
lreasonab BILE length Of time. No better
results can be expected even II proven
Ito young farmers that . plantation ol
Twenty five or thirty acres In trees will
prove very profitable in the course Of
Thirty years. 1t has been shown that
to do 90 Ii to Get aside handsome pro-
vision for old age, kind Of invest
mept, . frst.clAsy life insurance, 90 tc
'Ispeak, which, perhaps, he can realize
lon before his death, bat to no purpose
the process 10 too slow In these timel
when we nre moving along OF such q
rapid pace. Trees grow too slow fol
the average farmer. There are few
men who care to have their money
locked up 80 long. In this country
Ichnuges come very rapidly and every
land owner knows that long before {
lp!ece OF woodland set out by him nigh
, become productive, bis land throngl
lone cause or another might become 70
more valuable than the trees planted OF
lit, ard In consequence the latter b
sacr. q 1ed after all the time and cost ex
: 'Ipended on them.
But Mr.. Msehan does not tear dowl
one theory without Offering In Its plac
another which he oonceives to be bot
/. ter one. He holds that cooperative "a
sociations must do the work that ough
more properly devolve upon indivldu
/. ais. Stock companies, he thinkS
might answer the purpose, As the.
'' might secure suitable tracts OF land
mot valuable for agricultural purpose
I upon long leases. The stock In thes
Icompanies, he thinks. would ways b
!, worth more than the added interes,
In case y sto,kholder cared to sell on
at any tane he would be able to do SO
as every day would bring the tree
nearer their market period. The Ian,
might be purchased and II also Nigh
a. Iprove n source Of pro6. owing to th
Igradual increase in value or to som
Iother cause. An objection 10 urge
= ,''(agslnst this plan on account of DANCE
,r from forest fires, but Mr.. Meeha
:, meets this objection with the argumen
10 that there never are fores. fres In ne,
l. forests. They only o,cur in old tin
al bered districts where decayed wood an
~ leaves Invite every spark thss falls t
the earth. Examples furnished by th
:, forests planted in Scotland show tbs
~ they become pre- cftAble upon q fit'y
-Iysar plan. France and Germany ais
manage to make forestry profitable
not as profitable, 1t Is true, as men fin
trade and commerce, but at the sam
8 time the humidity OF the climate
tpreseryed, the volume OF the streams
kept mp and the frui.fulness OF the sol
Indefinitely continued. These argt
men,s strike us as sound and sensi bi,
NO microscopicsl examination is II
}quired TO show that cur seasops hav
VERY much changed aud that on
Istreams have ceased their regular luxt
RANT how OF water. This is generaii
attributed to the destruction OF on
a forests. 1t ls evident that sooner {
later something vii! have to be done |
: this country, IL not through the effor
\ or individuals, then through the effor
O. the government.
Wedding BELLS Down the River
On thursday evening last Mr. Harr
l., R!charda, keeper OF governmer
Lighthouse near Port Penn, but resider
= in Delaware City, and Miss Add
Denney, near Port Penn, were unite